Conventionally, various devices that recognize a digit train included in a user's voice by voice recognition have been proposed (e.g., see Patent Documents 1 to 3).    [Patent Document 1] JP-A-H11-305793    [Patent Document 2] JP-A-H10-254489 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,887)    [Patent Document 3] JP-A-2006-58390
A phone number is displayed as one train of consecutive digits or in the form of groups of area code, city code, and subscriber number separated by parentheses or “-” (hyphen). For example, when a phone number is displayed after being separated by groups of area code, city code, and subscriber number, the groups are often separated by utterance of “hyphen” or “of.”
However, devices described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, when a phone number is uttered in a thus separated form, cannot recognize the phone number as the manner uttered by a user, and thus cannot display the phone number after separating it into groups of area code, city code, and subscriber number according to an uttered separating method. As a result, a phone number different from the one that is uttered by the user is displayed, possibly giving the user a sense of incongruity.
Some vehicle navigation apparatuses have a phone number search function to search for a destination facility by inputting its phone number in voice. The phone number search function, when a phone number is inputted in voice, consults a database created using phone numbers and the like enrolled in a telephone directory and displays the phone number of the destination facility according to a separating method used in the database.
With such apparatuses, for example, when a method of separating an area code, a city code, and a subscriber number is changed due to the unification and/or reorganization of telephone switching offices, a phone number enrolled in the database is displayed by a pre-change separating method in spite of user's utterance of the phone number in accordance with a new separating method, possibly giving the user a sense of incongruity.